Baby boom in Ignace, Ont. prompts early adoption of province's baby box program

A community health centre in northwestern Ontario is among the first agencies in the province to participate in the baby box program.

Starting in August, all Ontario residents will be eligible to receive the kit full of infant supplies such as diapers, sleepers, bibs and onesies,that comein a box that converts to a safe sleeping space for the baby.

But the Mary Berglund Community Health Centre in Ignacehas already been working with the supplier of the baby boxes The Baby Box Co. to distribute the boxes to parents in the township, located nearly 300 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

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Superior Morning6:14Baby Box

The free bassinete and infant supply program is coming to Ontario. And the Mary Bergland Community Health Centre in Ignace is getteing a head start.

"Enthusiasm, excitement and deep caring about the people who live in our community," led to thecentre being on the cutting edge of the public health initiative, according to executive director Gloria Pronger.

Finland introduced baby boxesin 1938 as a way to reduce infant mortality rates and the programgained international prominence after a BBC documentary in 2013.Around that time, Pronger said she heard an interview about baby boxes on CBC News and decided to pursue the idea in Ignace.

The township only has a population of about 1,000 people, but Pronger saidthere has been a recent influx of First Nations residents.

'Many, many babies'

According to Statistics Canada, First Nations people are the fastest growing population in the country with an increase of 22.9 per cent between 2006 and 2011, something Pronger seesreflected in Ignace.

"We've seen many babies in the last three years as newcomers to our community," she said. "Many, many babies andwe want to be able to support them and also to share the good news about baby boxes and the decreased infant mortality rate."

The infant mortality rate in northwestern Ontario is 0.9 per cent, compared to the rest of Canada at about 0.5per cent, she said.

With a grant of $2,000 from the nearby Dryden Rotary Club, Pronger said the health centre has already purchased 21 baby boxes and is working on plans for more.

When the Ontario-wide baby box program begins this summer it will be the largest in the world, according to The Baby Box Co., which expects to distribute 145,000 baby boxesto parents in its first year working with the province.